Next up on the Hall of Fame thread in former New York Yankees great Lefty Gomez, who was inducted into Cooperstown in 1972.
Check out my card:
Anchoring the Yankee staffs of the 1930's, Gomez twice won the
pitching triple crown (1934 and 1937) while also going 6-0 in World
Series play with FOUR shutouts. Not bad.
However, and hear me out: when you really look over what Gomez did
during his somewhat short Major League career, he doesn't really come
off as a Hall-worthy guy. No?
Take away his two stellar seasons mentioned above, and well, we're left with a very good pitcher.
Now I'm a devout Yankee fan, and live and die by every season. But
with a lifetime 189-102 career record with a 3.34 earned run average, 28
shutouts and 1468 strikeouts, I just don't see it.
Besides that, Gomez only had ten full seasons of Major League ball,
the other four years were partial at best, and I have always had a hard
time with guys that didn't put in a solid 15+ years in the "big show".
Don't know how many of you feel.
Perhaps as reader Tony once mentioned, it's about the players's
status at the time he retired and where he stood then, NOT through our
modern goggles.
But is is worth noting that the most support Gomez got by the BBWA was in 1956 when he got 46.1% of the vote.
When his 15-year eligibility was up in 1962, he'd have to wait another ten years before the Veteran's Committee got him in.
Sure the "Lefty" legend is there. But was it enough for the Hall?
Let me know what you all think!
